The mullahs’ asymmetric rule

Philippe Descamps &
Cécile Marin, April 2016

Preview

The Iranian constitution was adopted in a referendum in December
1980 and modified in July 1989. It established a regime founded on dual sources of legitimacy: the principle of velayat-e faqih (the tutelage of the Supreme Leader, who embodies the primacy of Islamic law), and the will of the people. Appointments to the executive role of president and to the legislative assembly are made by universal suffrage, but restricting other key posts to appointed mullahs (doctors of Quranic law) enables them to exert control over public life. The Guardian Council of the Constitution, made up of six clerics and
six jurists, ensures that laws comply with the constitution and the precepts of Islam, and filters candidates for major elections.

The key figure, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, was elected by the Assembly of Experts in 1989. As religious authority and true head of state, he is selected from the mojtahed, the most eminent scholars of Islamic law. His prerogatives are wider than in a traditional presidential system or a constitutional monarchy; he retains oversight of all other authorities and has the power to call a referendum or declare war.

In this asymmetrical system, international agreements and treaties are signed by the president of the republic (Hassan Rohani, elected in June 2013), whose functions are more like those of a prime minister. The Majlis (Islamic Consultative Assembly) retains the power to initiate laws and approve the appointment of ministers (and dismiss them). Five assembly seats are reserved for religious minorities: Zoroastrians, Jews, and Armenian, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians.